


A bittersweet ending

by BruceWayneIsBatman



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It, Poorly written, Terrible with tags, don't mind me, fixing the mess after s8e05, i just needed to fix that mess, like the show btw, who cares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 08:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18824569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BruceWayneIsBatman/pseuds/BruceWayneIsBatman
Summary: What will NOT happen in season 8 episode 6 but will be my head canon until GRRM eventually finishes A Song of Ice and Fire and gives the characters the ending they deserve.Jon goes to Winterfell





	A bittersweet ending

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic. It's probably bad, i mean, I'm not even a native English speaker so please be indulgent.  
> I wrote it in like, 2 hours. Which is probably longer than D&D spent on episode 5 so I think it's fair.

Sansa stared at the scroll in her hands. King’s Landing destroyed, it’s people dead, the few survivors left destitute and sick…At least Jon and Arya were alive. 

 

“My lady, interrupted Podrick, there’s a dragon flying to Winterfell”  
Sansa’s blood ran cold. Destroying King’s Landing wasn’t enough, the dragon queen was coming for her, for her people. Sansa went outside, ready to surrender in order to spare the North.  
She waited for the dragon to land…only to see that its rider wasn’t who she expected.

***

As soon as Jon’s feet touched the ground, he all but ran to Sansa and embraced her. She let herself be enveloped in his warmth. When she looked up, she could see that he had been crying.  
“What happened Jon?  
\- Dany, she…went mad…she burnt the city to the ground…and the people inside it. I could have prevented it. I should have known the moment she burnt Varys for treason that she wouldn’t stop. It was my fault. Then she threatened Arya and you and I just, I had to…

Jon didn’t finish his sentence, chocking on his own sobs. 

Sansa held him and comforted him as best as she could and gently let him inside the keep, noticing dried blood on his clothes and hands and realizing that if Jon was riding Drogon, then its master was no longer alive.

***

Jon sat near the window, as far away from the fire as he could, staring at the snow, not uttering a word.  
Sansa offered him hale and cold meat but he barely acknowledged her.

“Why have you come North?

He finally looked at her.

“Tyrion. Tyrion says I should be king. That I’m the rightful heir, that I’ll make a good ruler.  
\- And what do you say, Jon?  
\- I don’t want the throne. I’ll make a terrible king. Stabbed by my own brothers and then taking part in the slaughter of innocents in King’s Landing. How does any of that make me a good ruler?  
\- Who else, then?  
\- I don’t know. Anyone. Anyone but me.

Sansa sat at Jon’s feet and covered his hand with hers.

“you’ll make a good ruler Jon. Because you care, you learn from your mistakes. You can do it, but only if you surround yourself with the right people.  
\- And who would that be?  
Jon could see the cogs turning in Sansa’s head as she prepared her answer.  
\- Well, let’s see. Ser Davos could remain your hand. And the lords paramount could act as you small council. The North supports you of course, I’ll write to the Vale to ask for my cousin’s support. Gendry is lord of Storm's Ends, Tyrion will be lord of Casterly rock. He can probably free my uncle if he is still there and restore him as lord if Riverrun. Highgarden is empty but Sam, as the new lord Tarly, would make a good ruler for the Reach. That leaves us with Dorne, you’ll have to broker a marriage with a Dornish lady to ensure their support.

Jon looked shocked at the idea.

“What? No, I don’t, I can’t!  
\- Jon, a king needs an heir, you’ll have to marry and the sooner the better. If you die now, the kingdom would fall further into chaos and can’t afford that at the moment. And you’ll need a queen to help you shoulder the burden of ruling.

Something passed in Jon’s eyes. Sansa couldn’t tell what it was but before she new it, he was standing and gently pulling her hand to help her stand.

“You’re right, I need a queen, Westeros needs a queen. But I don’t thing some unknown Dornish lady will do. It should be you Sansa, and you know it. 

Sansa tried to interrupt him, to tell him what a preposterous idea it was but Jon wouldn’t let her.

“You’re smart, definitely smarter than me. You care about your people, you care about feeding them and giving them shelter. You know how to rule a castle and a kingdom better than anyone else I know. Let's be honnest, you’re queen in the North in anything but name. And I know you want to North to be independent, but don’t you think a Stark queen on the Iron Throne will do more to protect the interests of the North?

Sansa didn’t know what to say. Jon was her brother…No, her cousin, cousins could marry. But giving up Northern independence, going back to King’s Landing…No, Kings Landing was destroyed.

“I’ll have to think about it. Make plans, see what can be done.”

Jon smiled and nodded; this was the answer he was hoping for.

***

“You’ll ask the great lords to meet you in Harrenhal, it’s central and we can host some of the survivors who have fled King’s Landing. There, you will start a new rule, where all kingdoms are equal and their representatives each have a vote in your Council of the Seven. But before they arrive you will go to the Isle of Faces and kill that beast. No one will trust you as long as the dragon who destroyed the capital is nearby.

Sansa looked stern and Jon knew she was right, even though he didn’t know how he was going to kill Drogon.

\- And then? You want me to set my court at Harrenhal?  
\- Of course not. You’ll travel your kingdom for a year or so. The smallfolk needs to see you, the lords and their bannermen need to get to know you and trust you. You need to earn their support or they’ll demand your head at the next bad harvest and you know it.  
\- All right, where shall we travel then? What will we do?  
\- We’ve already planned that, added Sansa, with a small smile directed to Sam. You will start in Dorne, showing that they’re important to you. I’ll try and secure a marriage between a highborn Dornish lady and my cousin lord Arryn while we’re there. And we’ll buy lemons, loads of lemons.  
\- For lemon cakes, asked Jon with a smirk?  
\- No, Sansa rolled her eyes at him, because then we’ll go the Stormlands where fresh food is scarce and more and more people suffer from scurvy. Sam says citrus will help them.

“Oh” was all Jon could say and felt like an idiot for his jest.

\- Then, Sansa continued, we’ll go the Eyrie, in time to celebrate my cousin’s betrothal and thanking the Vale for sheltering me when I escaped Cersei. From there, we’ll go to the Riverlands, then the West and finally the Reach where you’ll be crowned king of the Seven kingdoms in Oldtown.  
\- Why Oldtown?  
\- Well, it’s the oldest city in Westeros, the oldest sept, the Citadel is there, it would show your attachment to the Faith, the Maesters and a time before the Targaryen invasion, explained Sam timidly.  
\- After your coronation, the new High Septon will bless our union and we will finally be able to go North for a while, concluded Sansa.

Just thinking about it felt exhausting to Jon. When he didn’t answer, Sansa added “Does that suit you, your Grace?”

Jon acquiesced and Sansa smiled. It was a good start.

***

Sansa was sewing by the fire and chatting with Gilly and Ser Brienne when someone knocked at the door. It had been hard to convince Brienne to come sit with them instead of keeping watch at the door and, of course, it had to be tonight that someone came unannounced. Sansa stood before Brienne could and went to open the door herself. She was surprised to see Jon there, glassy-eyed and smelling of hale, slurring “I need to talk to you”.  
She didn’t want anyone to see the new king in such a state and ushered him in her bedchambers. Once inside she sat straight, her hands on her lap, and waited for him to speak.

“You’ll make a good queen. I knew you would. Tyrion knew it too. He’s the one who came up with the idea. But you probably guessed that. You’re smart. What I didn’t say is that... I didn’t agree only because it was the right thing..I….” 

Jon took a deep breath and sighed, rubbing his face with his palms. “I guess I’m more of a Targaryen than I’m willing to admit, he said with a humorless laugh.”

Sansa was at a loss for words, was Jon…? No, it couldn’t be, he was in love with the dragon queen, he thought of her as a sister. Marrying her was a political move, nothing more. She had thought that in time, they would learn to love each other like husband and wife. But Jon…already did, somehow?

“I want you as my queen, not for the good of the realm but because I want you. I have wanted you, like a man wants a woman. Even when I thought you were my sister, and I know it must sound vile to hear such things but, if you are to marry me, you deserve the truth.”

Jon fell to his knees, his eyes pleading and on the verge of tears. Before she could think, Sansa was on her knees too, holding him, her fingers in his hair and kissing his brow. As a child, she never really cared about Jon, but after she was reunited with him in Castle Black, he became her anchor, the person who kept her sane and focused. Learning that he wasn’t her brother was a hard blow, it felt like losing him. But somehow, fate had a twisted sense of humor and gave her back Jon, except, as a husband. And after everything she had been through, after everything they had been through, she would take what happiness she could.

 

****  
****

 

Sansa had just received a report on the reconstruction of Winterfell by Ser Brienne. She missed her friend dearly when she wasn’t North but she knew her to be an excellent castellan. Overseeing a trade deal between the Reach and the Iron Islands all morning had been exhausting and she was getting hungry; the report would have to wait, she decided. Maybe she could share a meal with Eddie and Robby after their lesson. And be scolded for calling them that in the process, she thought with a smile.

Jon was still in Dorne and Arya and Gendry were travelling somewhere in Essos and if she had time to spare, she would feel lonely. It was a good thing she didn’t have time for self-pity she concluded.  
Well, she knew what she was getting herself into when she agreed to marry Jon and become queen. She remembered her father’s word from what seemed a lifetime ago:  
“When you’re old enough, I will make you a match with a high lord who’s worthy of you, someone brave and gentle and strong.”  
Her father surely didn’t have Jon in mind when he said so but her husband was everything Eddard Stark once promised her.


End file.
